One Rush County student has been named the recipient of a four-year, full-tuition scholarship as the Rush County Community Foundation’s 2019 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.  This year’s recipient is the 37th Rush County student to receive a Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.

Kyle Bacon will receive full tuition to an Indiana college of his choice and a $900 yearly stipend for required books and equipment.   Kyle is one of 143 Indiana students awarded the prestigious scholarship for 2019.

Kyle is a resident of Orange Township and a senior at Rushville Consolidated High School.  He is the son of Doug and Cheryl Bacon.  Kyle plans to attend Purdue University and enroll in their first year engineering program and advance toward a major in civil engineering.

Kyle credits RCHS teacher Mrs. Joni Fenimore for encouraging him to enter the engineering field.  Mrs. Fenimore shared stories of her daughter’s interesting experiences with math in college and the way she was able to apply the mathematical problems to the world around her.  After hearing this, Kyle states that he was inspired to seriously consider engineering as a future.  He has also been influenced to pursue the major by watching the current activities currently taking place in the City of Rushville itself.  Once believing that a career in engineering would require him to move away from his hometown, he has watched recent builds, restorations, and general work towards a prosperous future for our county.  He hopes that as Rushville continues to grow infrastructure he could find his future here and use his education towards continual development of the county that raised him to be the person he is today.

Upon being presented the scholarship Kyle said, “I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be the 2019 Rush County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient. I am thankful for all of my friends and family who have supported me up to this point; it is because of these people that I am fortunate enough to receive this prestigious award. I would like to thank the Foundation and RCHS for their continuous support of Rush County students. Because of the Lilly I will be able to continue to pursue my future goals and I am forever thankful for that.

Kyle Bacon was chosen from 19 applicants from Rush County.  Academic standing, demonstrated leadership, school involvement, community involvement, and financial need all factor in the decision of the nominating committee.  The Rush County Community Foundation Lilly Selection Committee uses a blind application review process and does not know the names or identifying demographic information of the students.  Each application is reviewed and judged separately by three members of the committee and is judged in ten separate categories.  The committee narrows the field to three nominees and forwards their recommendation to the Board of Directors of the Rush County Community Foundation for final recommendation and submission to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) for the selection of the recipients.

ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 30 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.

The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are 1) to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana; 2) to increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities; and 3) to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.  To date, the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program has awarded 4,340 scholarships totaling over $372 million to Indiana students pursuing a postsecondary education at an accredited public or private nonprofit college or university in Indiana.

Meeting the philanthropic needs of Rush County since 1991, the Rush County Community Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit public charity established  to serve donors, award grants and scholarships, and provide leadership to enrich and enhance the quality of life in Rush County, Indiana, not only today, but for our future generations.  For more information please visit or contact the RCCF office at 117 N. Main St., Rushville, IN 46173, or call (765) 938-1177.

Pictured: Kristie Amos, Program Officer;  Angie Bane, Administrative and Accounts Coordinator; Doug Bacon, Kyle Bacon, Cheryl Bacon, Keith Bacon, Alisa Winters, Executive Director; Karen Brashaber, RCCF Board Member; Keith Perin, former RCCF Board Member